Veteran Employment and Child Care Access Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2825 To amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide child care assistance to veterans receiving certain training or vocational rehabilitation, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES NOVEMBER 7, 2019 Ms. DUCKWORTH introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Sec- retary of Veterans Affairs to provide child care assistance to veterans receiving certain training or vocational reha- bilitation, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veteran Employment 4 and Child Care Access Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:30 Nov 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2825.IS S2825 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 2825 IS SEC. 2. CHILD CARE ASSISTANCE FOR VETERANS RECEIV- 1 ING CERTAIN TRAINING OR VOCATIONAL RE- 2 HABILITATION. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 31 of title 38, United 4 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 5 lowing new section: 6 ‘‘§ 3123. Child care assistance for veterans receiving 7 training or vocational rehabilitation 8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—(1) Except as provided in para- 9 graph (2), the Secretary shall provide child care assistance 10 to an eligible veteran for any period that the veteran— 11 ‘‘(A) receives any training or vocational reha- 12 bilitation under this chapter, chapter 41, or section 13 1718, 2021, or 2021A of this title; and 14 ‘‘(B) is required to travel to and return from a 15 facility for the receipt of such training or vocational 16 rehabilitation. 17 ‘‘(2)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the 18 Secretary may only provide child care assistance under 19 paragraph (1)— 20 ‘‘(i) once for a child; and 21 ‘‘(ii) for a period shorter than six months. 22 ‘‘(B) The Secretary may waive the limitations of sub- 23 paragraph (A) as the Secretary considers appropriate. 24 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE VETERANS.—For purposes of this 25 section, an eligible veteran is any veteran— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:30 Nov 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2825.IS S2825 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 2825 IS ‘‘(1) who— 1 ‘‘(A) is the primary caretaker of a child or 2 children; and 3 ‘‘(B) is— 4 ‘‘(i) receiving training or vocational 5 rehabilitation described in subsection 6 (a)(1) on a full-time basis; or 7 ‘‘(ii) in need of such training or voca- 8 tional rehabilitation on a full-time basis, 9 and but for lack of child care services, 10 would receive such training or vocational 11 rehabilitation on a full-time basis; and 12 ‘‘(2) whose family’s adjusted gross income does 13 not exceed 85 percent of the median adjusted gross 14 income of the State in which the veteran resides. 15 ‘‘(c) CHILD CARE ASSISTANCE.—(1) Child care as- 16 sistance provided under this section may include any of 17 the following: 18 ‘‘(A) A stipend for the payment of child care of- 19 fered by a licensed child care center (either directly 20 or through a voucher program). 21 ‘‘(B) Direct provision of child care at an on-site 22 facility of the Department or the Department of 23 Labor. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:30 Nov 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2825.IS S2825 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 2825 IS ‘‘(C) A collaboration with a facility or program 1 of another Federal department or agency. 2 ‘‘(D) Such other form of assistance as the Sec- 3 retary considers appropriate. 4 ‘‘(2) In the case that child care assistance under this 5 section is provided as a stipend under paragraph (1)(A), 6 such stipend— 7 ‘‘(A) shall cover the full cost of such child care 8 and associated fees, including application fees and 9 full day, full week, and full month requirements of 10 the child care provider; and 11 ‘‘(B) such stipend shall be paid to the eligible 12 veteran. 13 ‘‘(d) COORDINATION.—Whenever practicable, the 14 Secretary shall coordinate with the heads of other Federal 15 agencies and with States and local entities in carrying out 16 this section to ensure accessibility and continuity of care. 17 ‘‘(e) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec- 18 tion shall be construed to require any provider of child 19 care to change the provider’s standard eligibility require- 20 ments or practices. 21 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 22 ‘‘(1) Notwithstanding section 101 of this title, 23 the term ‘child’ means— 24 ‘‘(A) a person— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:30 Nov 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2825.IS S2825 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 2825 IS ‘‘(i) who is under the age of 13 years; 1 or 2 ‘‘(ii)(I) who is under the age of 18 3 years; 4 ‘‘(II) who is 13 years of age or older; 5 and 6 ‘‘(III) who is physically or mentally 7 incapable of caring for themselves; or 8 ‘‘(B) such other person as the Secretary 9 considers appropriate. 10 ‘‘(2) The term ‘licensed child care center’ 11 means a center-based child care provider, a family 12 child care provider, or another provider of child care 13 services for compensation on a regular basis, that is 14 licensed, regulated, or registered under Federal or 15 State law. 16 ‘‘(3) The term ‘primary caretaker’, with respect 17 to a child, means— 18 ‘‘(A) the parent of the child; or 19 ‘‘(B) such other individual as the Secretary 20 considers appropriate.’’. 21 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 22 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting 23 after the item relating to section 3122 the following new 24 item: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:30 Nov 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2825.IS S2825 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 2825 IS ‘‘3123. Child care assistance for veterans receiving training or vocational reha- bilitation.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:30 Nov 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2825.IS S2825 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS